Chronicles of the War
by Gaius-M
Summary: Story of Li Tzu and Hao Sun, two Earthbending Soldiers as they try to survive the annihilation of their regiment.
1. The Ambush

**Book One: Omashu **

**Chapter I: The Ambush**

The quiet column of Earth Kingdom soldiers steadily moved onward, determined to put as many miles behind them as they could. In the western Earth Kingdom there was no telling what could befall even a decent sized force of soldiers and earthbenders if they were to march at night. The mountains were dangerous, crawling with all sorts of beasts, and worse yet – firebenders.

Ever since the War began, the Fire Nation tried to gain a strong foothold on the shore of the Earth Kingdom, and it seems they had succeeded. There were only several safe places for Earth Kingdom soldiers or refugees, and one of those was the south-western Earth Kingdom military base, located in the mountains some way south of Omashu (it would later be known to the Avatar and his companions as General Fong's base).

And that was where the 53rd Omashu regiment was headed. The regiment consisted of five hundred soldiers in total, along with a hundred of armoured Ostrich Horses. Of the soldiers, only fifty were earthbenders, as the War was straining the Earth Kingdom army and forcing it to direct most its earthbenders to the north-western coast; Omashu was forced to rely on its own garrison for benders, along with whatever few Ba Sing Se would spare.

Only a handful of the earthbenders were from Omashu, as King Bumi's captains, just like the Council of the Five at Ba Sing Se, could only spare so many. The earthbenders they did spare, however, were mostly youths, ill-experienced and just finished with their training. And even though three years of trudging about the Earth Kingdom did get them accustomed with a soldier's way of life, the fact they had not yet taken part in any of the true engagements didn't help with their lack of experience.

One of these Omashu earthbenders was Li Tzu; son of Feng Tzu, an earthbender and a soldier of the Earth Kingdom, and Yin Tzu, daughter of a wealthy trader from Omashu. Li himself was still at his prime, having recently hit his twenty third year of life, and still hadn't lost the optimistic outlook that the Earth Kingdom could, and would win the War.

However, three years of walking from base to base without any serious assignment had made his energy fade somewhat. By now, he was similar to most other soldiers of the Earth Kingdom Army, benders or not; perhaps the only thing that still stood out from other soldiers was his unsure look on life and his bending, which was based on a small amount of bending he saw the soldiers at Omashu performing, combined with his own practices, resulting in a style more reminiscent of waterbending to those who had seen the Northern and Southern waterbenders. Believing it to be inferior to that of other earthbenders, Li always used his short spear in conjunction with it, which also hinted at the odd nature of his bending, since spear wasn't a weapon commonly employed with earthbending.

By now, the other earthbenders of the regiment had gotten used to the 'oddities' of Li, and thus no one gave the young man any weird looks for the different, more flowing movements he used to move his large stone disc forward. Like most other regiments, the 53rd had one of these large tools for each earthbender in the regiment. Shaped like large versions of the Earth Kingdom symbol, they could serve as many things, from mobile walls to means of transportation for the earthbenders.

Currently they were only being a hindrance, however, and although Li knew the discs would probably come in handy when they finally got into a battle, he was all for throwing them off the mountain right this very moment. The narrow path they marched through only allowed for five men to march together shoulder-to-shoulder, thus the earthbenders were split into ten rows, each separated from the other by their discs, which the first five rows moved before them while the other five dragged them behind themselves.

Li was on the very left edge of the last row; to his right was another earthbender from Omashu, Tho, and to his left – a very steep slope. He and the other benders could only move very slowly, since they had to deal with several problems – the need to maintain constant contact with the ground with at least one leg at a time to prevent the discs from falling off the mountain, also avoiding slipping and falling down while moving backwards and still be concentrated enough on the discs or, in Li's case, the small rock columns, as he moved his discs by slowly moving his hands in a circular motion and raising a new column each time his hand reached the highest spot of the circle.

The atmosphere was certainly not very cheerful; this was the first time they were as near to death as they were now. To make matters worse, most of them were pondering on the possibility of an ambush by the Fire Nation, although some encouraged themselves that the hated firebenders would find themselves in a similarly difficult situation and forget about trying to ambush the marching troops.

As hard as he tried, Li could not fend off thoughts about his father – had he went through a similar path at some time of his service as a soldier, maybe even this one? What if he had been unlucky and slipped? What if the Fire Nation had attacked the regiment he was in? So many doubts and considerations filled him that the young earthbender only barely avoided meeting the fate he was considering – he noticed his foot was about to miss the earth at the last moment. Had this happened, he would've fallen off balance and at best lost his disc; at worst, he would've lost his life.

Just as he shook his head to try and concentrate fully again, he felt someone grab his shoulder. Surprised, Li turned to see that it was Tho, who hurled him to the ground, ignoring the fact that both of their discs, with no more support from the benders, rolled down the path and finally off the slope.

"Tho, what the h-" Li was cut off when a fireball flew right past where his head was moments ago, bursting into a massive flame as the one who sent it unleashed another one, accompanied by many others.

Feeling panic fill him, Li reached out for his spear. Someone in the distance cried 'AMBUSH!'; a whistle was blown, signalling for the earthbenders to form a platform behind the troops to give them space to manoeuvre.

Some of the battle-hardened earthbenders immediately took up the task, soon followed by those less experienced; one joint earthbending movement was all it took to make a portion of the mountain road three times as wide as it was before. Previously such earthbending would've attracted the Fire Nation's attention, but now it no longer mattered – they had found the 53rd regiment.

Feeling strangely dizzy, Li rose up, his short spear in hand. It all seemed unreal, like a series of pictures; the military drill couldn't prepare for the thrill, chaos and confusion of the real battle.

The discs were quickly moved to shield the regiment's front from firebenders' attacks; it was still unclear from where had the Fire Nation soldiers struck, and thus the earthbenders couldn't respond with a counterattack.

However, the Earth Kingdom troops could soon get a very clear view at their attackers; Li only barely managed to bend himself a way around the disc wall before the firebenders unleashed another wave of quick strikes, going out of their hiding in the process. The earthbenders answered by quickly bending the square holes in the middles of their discs open and propelling rocks roughly towards the ambushers before bending the discs shut again.

Li only managed to get a hold of himself when the firebenders struck the third time; when the disc centres were once again bended open, he joined in with the attack, firmly planting his feet in the ground and raising a rock by moving his hand in a half crescent, before letting it loose with a swift stab of his spear.

However, the situation the Earth Kingdom troops found themselves in was a dire one – their platform was getting thinner with every earthbending attack, and their discs were growing thinner with every firebending one. It was obvious that if the battle went in such turns for much longer the 53rd Omashu regiment would soon be another regiment in the list of units annihilated by the Fire Nation.

As soon as the firebenders struck for the fourth time, Hao, the captain of the regiment, signalled to bend the disc wall into two parts; the firebenders used this opportunity to deliver a quick blow, although it was significantly weaker than the previous ones due to the firebenders expecting to face another attack of the earthbenders instead of this strange manoeuvre. Hao, however, ignoring the flames that delivered injuries to several of his soldiers, as well as a couple of fatal blows, assumed the usual immovable earthbending stance, then extended both his hands forward towards the mountain. Imitating grasping the rocks with his hands, the captain began executing an earthbending move that could've very well been the doom of both the Fire Nation troops and the 53rd Omashu regiment.

Li and several other young earthbenders watched in quiet awe as Hao slowly pulled his hands towards himself, sweat emerging on his brow, his teeth clenched so tight they creaked. Somewhere above in the mountains, a rumble was heard. With a triumphant look on his face, Hao suddenly pulled his hands backwards quickly, then signalled to close and fortify the disc wall.

It was obvious that such a display of earthbending prowess had exhausted the captain; however, it was well worth it. Li was more than impressed when he saw that Hao had created a huge avalanche. Unfortunately, it was coming towards the Earth Kingdom soldiers and it seemed unlikely that even all the earthbenders together could stop it – moving it was easier, although still no easy task, but stopping it would be nigh-impossible for all but the masters of earthbending.

With haste, the earthbenders moved the disc wall together again, holding it tight, while those not occupied with maintaining the wall bended another layer of rock in front of it. Li, Tho and the rest of the earthbenders who had lost their discs frantically worked to raise another, thicker wall, Tho with the usual straightforward earthbending moves the other earthbenders also used and Li in his traditional flowing style.

However, the avalanche was moving too fast for the earthbenders to finish, and it bore down on them before the second rock wall was ready. The falling rocks smashed into the incomplete work of the earthbenders; most of them attempted to stop the rocks heading at them with their bending, however the platform under them collapsed, sending both the benders and the simple soldiers falling to their deaths. The last thing Li knew was that he was falling, then something hit the back of his head and everything went black.


	2. Aftermath

**Chapter 2: Aftermath**

_When did it start raining? _Li looked around the street. Large drops of water slowly began dropping, one by one. The citizens of Omashu hurried to find shelter from what looked like a huge mountain storm, coming towards the rich Earth Kingdom city. Knowing what to expect from the wall of black clouds looming in the distance, Li also hastened his step, hoping to make it back home before the storm struck in its entirety. However, one large drop hit him straight on the brow and, to his amazement; Li felt his entire body collapsing.

Another drop hit him on the brow. With a groan, the young earthbender opened his eyes, only to see that it was no drop – a small pebble had rolled down from the pile of rocks next to him. Omashu and the storm were both gone; instead, Li found himself stuck on a small ledge, nearly buried beneath rocks that only by some miracle did not crush him.

Slowly, it all started coming back to him. The ambush, captain Hao's impressive earthbending and the avalanche... How was he still alive? That Li did not know. However, he had heard things about people bending in their sleep, so perhaps he had earthbended while unconscious... People less skilled than him had survived all sorts of things without knowing how they did it, so it wasn't entirely impossible.

Li tried to move his limbs. His legs were stuck under the rocks, however it didn't seem as if they were broken, so it was probably safe to say that, thanks to his sub-conscious bending he managed to get away with little more than cuts and bruises, and even a worse injury than that would've been a small price to pay for surviving this ordeal. Both of his hands were still free, and by the manner the rocks around him were arrayed, it was obvious that he had protected his upper half much more successfully.

Slowly and carefully, Li started bending the rocks off the top of the pile, cautious not to bring all of them down on himself. Fortunately, the ledge he was stuck on was too small to hold a great number of rocks, so the pile was not a great one, and after some bending in a really uncomfortable position, Li was able to see his legs once again and begin thinking what to do next.

It seemed like there were more than bruises and cuts. His right leg seemed relatively intact, asides from some scratches. His left one, on the other hand, had suffered more serious injuries – as Li attempted to stand up, the pain this action caused forced him to sit down again and stretch his legs. For now, he decided to abandon the attempts to stand up and occupied himself with inspecting the rest of himself more closely.

During the fall, his conical, leaf green Earth Kingdom helmet had fallen off his head, although fortunately it didn't suffer much damage, nor did it fall off with the rocks. The helmet was a valuable asset to any earthbender, being hard to destroy. By now, being at war with the Fire Nation for more than forty years and with no peace in sight, the Earth Kingdom was more prepared to come to blows with the firebenders than earlier, and this was reflected on the helmet first and foremost – it was designed specifically to withstand typical firebending attacks, and, when used properly, it could prove to be a hindrance to even a more advanced firebender.

The rest of Li's armor seemed to have suffered slightly more damage. His leaf-green iron pauldrons, covering his shoulders and the upper arm to his elbow along with a portion of his chest were dented in numerous spots; however, they weren't gravely damaged and would still be useful. Likewise, his scarf, only slightly lighter green than his scarf and helmet, only had several scratches on it; for as long as he stayed in the mountains or any similarly cold area, Li would find it useful. Both the two iron plates protecting Li's sides and the belt used to hold them together and on the earthbender, again coloured in the traditional leaf-green of the Earth Kingdom were also more or less intact, still offering valuable protection to his stomach and, to a lesser extent, his chest. His ankle guards, another part of his armament bearing the leaf-green colour, were more heavily damaged, particularly the one on his left leg, although they were still in suitable shape to continue using until a replacement was available. Just to ease the pain on his leg, though, Li removed the guard on his left leg. The tan padded leather body armor was also fortunately generally fine, only suffering more damage on the lower half.

Relieved to see his armor was still useable and would probably serve him well until he had the chance to replace it – IF he'd have a chance to replace it – Li looked around for his spear, which didn't seem to be anywhere nearby. Cursing silently, he realized that it must've met the fate his helmet avoided – falling off of the ledge after likely being broken by the rocks. For now, he'd have to rely solely on his bending if he was to encounter any surviving Fire Nation soldiers, although he doubted that any of the ambushers survived... For that matter, he wasn't sure if any of his regiment had survived either...

_Looks like I'll need to find that out for myself... _With a sigh, Li pressed his hand against the mountainside and, with quick twist of his wrist, earthbended himself a crude staff out of the rock. It would have to suffice until he came to possess something better to support himself or until his leg healed enough for him to be able to walk on his own.

Deciding that the first place to look for survivors would be down below, wherever the rocks fell to, Li slowly began bending the ledge down the slope. With only one hand, it was a very slow process – moving his hand in an oval, Li could only lower the ledge a few inches each time his hand descended.

Fortunately, Li wouldn't need to head all the way down to the foot of the mountain, as that would've taken ages, given the 53rd was quite high up by the time they were ambushed. The rocks had stopped a little way down, in a hollow that didn't seem to be naturally formed, most likely created during one of the innumerable skirmishes between the Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom that took place literally all over the western Earth Kingdom, even up in the mountains, something that the 53rd learned at its expense.

A few more earthbending movements and Li was already on the rocks, looking for any survivors. He found parts of armaments of both the Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom soldiers – broken firebender masks, earthbender helmets, Fire Nation cuirasses, spears, swords and various other weapons of both sides... Several dead bodies lay on the rubble, partially crushed by rocks; the rest must've been buried deeper beneath the rocks.

"Hello?" Li cried out silently, worried the avalanche might've attracted more Fire Nation soldiers. As no one answered, he cried out again, this time louder. Hearing only his echo, he yelled out for the third time, this time with even less hope that someone would answer.

Nothing.

Too stubborn to accept that none had survived the fall, Li bended several boulders out of the way, hoping to find at least the dead bodies of his former comrades.

Much to his surprise, Li heard a yell. Shaking his head, he dismissed it as despair-caused hallucinations, however then he heard it again. Whoever was yelling must've been an earthbender, or hell of a lucky person, as the yell seemed to be coming from beneath the boulders Li had uncovered in his search for the remains of Earth Kingdom soldiers.

With new hope that he wasn't the only from his regiment to have survived this ordeal, Li started frantically moving the rocks. He suspected the identity of this survivor – there was only one earthbender in the entire regiment that could've survived all this time underneath the rocks, as Li must've been out for at least an hour or two.

Finally, the yell reached him clear and loud, no longer blocked by any rocks. Yelling to Li that he'd handle this himself now, the survivor began climbing up the rocks, all the while concentrating on the boulders enough to keep them from falling on him again. Curious and gleeful, Li made his way towards the hole he had earthbended as quickly as he could with his injured leg.

"Captain Hao!" Li exclaimed happily, his suspicions confirmed. Looking worn and bloodied, the captain made his way up, Li pulling him up as soon as Hao could grab his hand.

"I thought for sure I was the only one left... Clear sign luck hasn't abandoned us yet in this war..." Hao lied down on the rocks, gasping for air. Out of breath, he gestured Li to loosen his pauldrons and belt, before passing out.

***

"So you've been underneath the rocks this entire time, captain?" Li raised his eyebrows in surprise. He didn't expect that such an earthbending feat would be possible – first bringing down an entire mountainside, then bending the falling rocks into a shell and preventing it from falling apart after a long fall and maintaining it for almost an hour under pressure of enormous boulders.

"Just call me Hao. It's not like there's any army left here in which ranks matter..." Hao stopped to smile sadly. "It certainly wasn't easy. By the time I heard you there was barely any air left, and even if there was plenty of it I would've soon passed out from exhaustion. Fortunately you came about..."

"Li."

"Right. You're one of the Omashu benders?" Hao inquired. Li nodded and the captain continued:

"I'm from Ba Sing Se... Beautiful place, that. Hopefully the Fire Nation won't get to it, at least not easily. You've ever been to the Capital?"

"Never, s- Hao." Li quickly corrected himself, then sighed. "I've lived in Omashu all my life, save last three years. Although I've heard much of Ba Sing Se... Everyone has. The Outer Wall alone is a thing of legends. I hope to see it myself, some day... After this war is over."

"After the War is over..." Hao drifted off into his thoughts for a moment. Li didn't disturb him, as memories of Omashu flooded into him. That dream had felt so real... So peaceful. Behind the walls of Omashu there were nearly no signs of the War, even though it was being waged for a longer time than any other war history could remember.

"I'd bet my yearly wage we're not the only two soldiers dreaming about peaceful life right now." Hao chuckled, before trying to stand up. He was still exhausted, however, and was forced to sit down again. "We should look for more survivors... Although I doubt there are any, it won't hurt to look. Not like we could leave this place until the morning... I'm in no shape to travel, and I doubt you're eager for a jog in the mountains this night."

Li nodded and stood up. "I'll look around, you rest. Hopefully there'll be someone else out there who isn't a firebender."

Hao watched as Li walked away, until the young earthbender disappeared from his sight in the thickening darkness. With a sigh, the former captain lay down and, ignoring the uneven terrain and sharper rocks; soon, he fell asleep.


	3. On the road

**Chapter 3: On the road**

By the time the first rays of sunshine tried to find their way through the mist that surrounded the mountains, Li was already awake. Hao was still asleep, however the captain deserved to sleep in for at least this one time, something Li knew full well, so he decided to take a walk and exercise his leg instead of sitting about in the camp and risking waking Hao up with the noise his makeshift walking stick caused.

Slowly and carefully, the young earthbender descended down the boulders, nearly slipping a few times. Even though the slope of the mountain was not as steep here as further up, that would not end well, so Li had to be as cautious as he could, or else there could be one survivor less – even though he was an earthbender and it was less of a risk for him to walk around these mountains, his wounded leg had weakened his bending abilities, because despite not sharing the head-on approach of other earthbenders, he still needed to assume a stance as immovable as the rock he was bending, and that required him to place his legs firmly on the earth, something that would've caused too much pain right now. Thus, he would either have to bend while lying on the ground to maintain the necessary contact with earth or avoid getting into a situation that would require stronger earthbending.

Li had decided to choose the latter option, and it wasn't as hard for him to avoid slipping as it might've been for another earthbender, given that Li was more agile than most other earthbenders thanks to his indirect approach. One barely functioning leg was a hindrance, but he could still move safely, and from time to time risk to give the injured limb some weight to support. It still hurt badly, but without exercise it'd take more time to heal, and if he and Hao were going to go anywhere, they'd likely face Fire Nation troops, and then Li would need his earthbending.

***

By the time Li got back, Hao was up and about, preparing to leave. Even a long rest hadn't completely brushed aside the weariness the former captain felt after yesterday's exhausting bending; however, Hao had regained much of his strength, and could move around and bend again – Li found him nearby the tents the young Omashu bender had raised to shelter them in the case of rain. Hao was slowly bending them back into the rocks, careful not to make much noise so as not to attract any wandering Fire Nation soldiers that might've been patrolling somewhere nearby.

Li joined him, and the two were soon done with their campsite, making sure to have left no unnaturally looking rocks or anything else that could've indicated that earthbenders had spent a night here – in the case someone found this place, it was best if the Fire Nation believed that all of the Earth Kingdom soldiers had perished. After finishing this work, the two earthbenders sat down to rest for a bit and decide their course of action now that their comrades were gone.

"There are only two ways to go now. We can either press forward for the fort, or turn back and head to Omashu." Hao summarized. They both looked up, where the path to the south-western military base was. "It'll be hell of a hard task getting to it for two exhausted earthbenders, knowing that the mountains are crawling with Fire Nation soldiers just waiting to pick off some unsuspecting Earth Kingdom units."

"Yes, but returning to Omashu..." Li looked at his former captain, and Hao knew what he meant just from the look on his face.

"It could be even more difficult... Also shameful and selfish. We must carry out our duty to the Earth Kingdom and the King, troops or no troops, and at least let the captain of the fort know that reinforcements will not be coming."

Li nodded in agreement, beginning to stand up. "The military base it is, then."

Hao stood up as well, and the two began the journey they were unlikely to complete.

***

The next couple of hours was a tense experience for both of them. Earthbending their way back up on the road was nerve-breaking, since they both knew all too well that one wrong move, one too loud a noise, and they'd have firebenders pursuing them in no time. But if Li thought that getting up was bad enough, then moving forward was insufferable.

The road that previously seemed so narrow all out of sudden was wider than all the masterfully constructed roads that etched the Earth Kingdom put together. They couldn't earthbend to hide, because that would drag unwanted attention, since Fire Nation soldiers could be lurking just above them. And natural cover was so scarce, they were forced the creep along the side of the mountain slowly like thieves, and even then Li had the unpleasant feeling that they were being watched by bloodthirsty eyes. He was almost anticipating an ambush – at least then he could see his enemy, and not just feel that they might be right above him.

Thankfully, even though the progress they made was slow, it was progress nonetheless, and with each heartbeat, with each step the duo took forward, the military base and their relief approached. The noise of soldiers marching, officers yelling at their units, doctors tending to the wounds of the lucky ones that managed to come back from battle, everything would've been a welcome change to this deadly silence, broken only by their footsteps and the occasional bird or rolling pebble.

Finally, breathing began getting easier and easier with each foot they left behind. The mountain path began descending, and although he could not see what lay below, Li could already imagine a paved road, leading onwards to the fort. He was well aware that the fort itself was located in a mountain pass, but at least they could spend the night on firm ground, hidden in some cave or an earthbended cover of some sort, one that could be easily defended from the Fire Nation, whose soldiers were also less frequent below the mountains, at least supposedly so due to the Earth Kingdom patrols around the hidden fort.

However, just as he was beginning to dream of dinner, which would've seemed unattractive in any other conditions as army food was not that good after all, Li felt himself be pulled to the ground by Hao. Realizing something was up from the fact that the captain was pressing his finger against his lips insistently, Li decided to go along with all this and whispered:

"What's wrong?"

Hao pointed towards the end of the path. "Look and listen closely."

Starring at the wall of mist in front of them for a few moments, Li soon realized to his horror that he could make out several figures standing below that were conversing. What were the group talking about was beyond him, as their conversation only reached his ears as muffled groans and whispers.

"Earthbender patrols?" The young omashian asked, trying to make out the shape of the armor those figures wore, because it seemed highly unlikely that anyone not a soldier would've made their way to this dangerous place.

Hao shrugged. "I can't see it from up here, but it seems unlikely. Most likely... Fire Nation soldiers."

Li frowned, his eyes narrowing. Had the Fire Nation made a breakthrough while they were stuck in the mountains? Or was this just a random patrol that accidentally wandered out so boldly out of the mountains? Or was Hao wrong, something that seemed entirely likely from this distance, and those were earthbenders?

Silently, Hao motioned for Li to follow him, crawling forward carefully, trying to make no noise with his armor which was, thankfully, rather light in comparison to the heavy Fire Nation armor suits and didn't make nearly as much noise. Li was close behind, trying not to let his makeshift walking stick cause any noise by sticking it under his belt on his back. For the meantime, he'd have to drag his injured leg along, although it could've cause troubles if those were indeed Fire Nation patrols and he and Hao were spotted.

The two earthbenders crawled along the mountainside slowly, trying their best to stay hidden, although it was a difficult objective without the use of their bending, as unfortunately the path was mostly plain, with no rocks or rises to hide behind. Slowly, the voices below began getting clearer and clearer, until finally Li was able to make out what one of the figures was saying.

"... Azulon says the War'll be over 'till next summer. My ass. If you ask me we're in for a long one with this, the Earth Kingdom ain't going down that easily. I wouldn't be surprised if my son'll be called to fight and his son as well after we're all dead. And it'll go like that 'till there's a sensible Fire Lord in the throne or we manage to make a massive breakthrough somehow that'll end this slugfest."

Li's heart plummeted down to his heels. Fire Nation patrol.

"Shut your feed-hole!" Another figure yelled, and the two earthbenders could see that he made a threatening gesture with his spear towards one of the others. "Firebender or not, colonial filth, I'll take you if you keep it up like that. Azulon is one damn genius, and if someone can make a breakthrough - it's him or Sozin."

The supposed firebender laughed loudly, before quickly grabbing the threatening man's spear and snapping off the blade with a quick twist of his wrist and a little firebending, leaving the other soldier with a blunt burning stick instead of a spear.

Cursing loudly, the spearman swung the broken spear in a high arch towards the firebender; however, the hit never landed, as that same moment Hao jumped up and, with a short yell 'EARTH KINGDOM!', released a quick earthbending attack. The rock he launched wasn't as large as it would've been if he had been prepared and in the proper stance, however it was still enough to hurl aside the Fire Nation spearman and make him slide a few inches on the rocky ground.

With another series of curses, the spearman began getting up; however Hao wasn't paying attention to him any longer. The immediate threat was the firebender now, who quickly reacted with a series of fireballs, which the ex-captain swiftly annulated by raising a wall of rock. As the firebender took a pause to assume the correct stance, Hao launched his second strike by sending the entire wall he just rose down towards the soldiers.

The two other soldiers that were patrolling with the firebender and the spearman only now seemed to register that an earthbender had attacked them; however, only one was fast enough to jump aside and evade the rock wall that moved past him at great speed. The other was sent flying a few feet back, never to stand up again as the wall collapsed down on him, crushing the hapless soldier.

Li, who was scrambling to get back on his feet all this time, finally assumed his earthbending stance (as much as it was possible with a wounded leg) and began bombarding the firebender with a series of rocks, smaller than what he would've raised without the injury. Still, even if they were smaller and came slower than usual, the rocks were enough not to let the firebender attack again, for a time at least. Realizing that evading the rocks was a futile waste of time, the soldier instead put his firebending to work, blasting a couple of rocks off their course, which allowed him to compose himself and properly deal with the attack.

Soon, Li found himself hard-pressed and forced onto the defensive. With his weakened bending, he had trouble with holding his ground as, unlike Hao's, the rock walls he raised were only strong enough to withstand one fireball before crumbling. The firebender knew that his opponent would soon be forced to take a step back, and that was what he was waiting for.

However, concentrating on Li, the firebender made a grave mistake – he forgot about Hao, who had finished dealing with the non-benders and could now safely focus his attention on the greater threat.

Li could only grin, watching as a larger, firmer wall of rock rose up from the ground right in front of him and successfully withstood the fireball. He could hear the firebender cursing for a moment, before Hao raised another wall of rock, this one behind the unsuspecting Fire Nation soldier. Taken aback by this surprise manoeuvre, he only managed to let out a short yell before being knocked off his feet and crushed under the rock much like his non-bending comrade earlier.

Hao let out a prolonged sigh, before turning to Li. "You alright?"

"Yeah." Li nodded, trying to swallow the feeling of guilt. He didn't place much emphasis on the fact his leg was wounded, a major setback for any earthbender, and only saw that he was more of a hindrance to Hao in this battle than an aid. Biting his lip silently, the young omashian swore to remedy that soon. For the meantime, though, he said nothing and instead only followed Hao, who gestured him to keep up and then began moving down the path.

"It may be that this patrol just wandered too far away from the camp. Hopefully that's the case and we can continue on our way to the base. If not..." The ex-captain whispered, then sighed.

"We turn back to Omashu." Li frowned. Now it wasn't just about honour and doing his duty to the Earth Kingdom. Having experienced a journey through the mountains once, he certainly didn't want to do it again, especially considering the way back would be three times as long – the regiment had covered quite some distance before it was ambushed.

"Come on. We won't know if we don't check." Hao hastened his step, as much as it was possible without causing too much noise. Li followed, leaning against the mountain slope not only to avoid being seen easily, but also so he could move at all – his walking stick would cause far too much noise, so he'd either have to crawl or lean against the mountain.

Noticing this, Hao stopped right at the very end of the narrow mountain path, where it gave way to a paved road of Earth Kingdom construction. He turned to Li and eyed his leg worriedly.

"I think you should stay here for the moment."

Li swallowed his response, reminding himself that Hao still was his commanding officer, even though the former captain had no regiment now and had asked for Li to consider him an equal and forget about the army ranks. Remembering this, the young omashian only nodded, then sighed silently as he watched Hao slowly disappear in the mist.

Hao was gone only for some five minutes; however, it seemed like an eternity to Li. Ever-wary of other Fire Nation patrols, he pressed his back against the mountainside and prepared to earthbend at the first sign of Fire Nation troops. Thankfully, when Li did hear something to the left of the road and quickly earthbended a rock in case of hostiles, it was only Hao who emerged from the mist. However, the face expression of the former captain immediately told Li something was wrong.

"Fire Nation camp, straight up the road... They don't seem to know about the fort, but we won't get past them easily. I barely avoided their patrols, and with the condition of your leg we would have even more trouble. Even if it was perfectly fine, we still likely wouldn't make it. Too dangerous..." The middle-aged earthbender quickly explained, motioning for Li to lie down and head after him. The omashian did as instructed, however he couldn't help but wonder where were they going – if the Fire Nation was blocking the path to the fort, shouldn't they return to Omashu through the mountains?

Guessing Li's thoughts, Hao shook his head. "It's too dangerous to head through the mountains. Even two men would be noticed sooner or later, with three times as much distance to cover this time... We'll have to try to find a way around the mountains to get back to Omashu."

Li nodded again. Around the mountains... It didn't sound as bad as heading through the mountains again, but despite being born in Omashu, he didn't know the surrounding region very well, and could only hope Hao's navigational skills were better than his own. The only thing he did know for sure was that if they headed too far east, they could very well end up in the Si Wong desert... The one place he didn't want to end up in even more than the Fire Nation-infested mountains.


End file.
